Living with the “Leeches” – Taking Back your own Power and Spirit

“Because you are confused, you seek out a teacher. You go to him to give you a way of life, to clarify your own confusion, to find truth. You choose your guru because you are confused, and you hope he will give you what you ask. That is, you choose a guru who will satisfy your demand; you choose according to the gratification he will give you, and your choice is dependent on your gratification. You do not choose a guru who says, “Depend on yourself; you choose him according to your prejudices. So, since you choose your guru according to the gratification he gives you, you are not seeking truth but a way out of confusion, and the way out of confusion is mistakenly called truth…

You cannot find truth through anybody else. How can you? Surely, truth is not something static; it has no fixed abode; it is not an end, a goal. On the contrary, it is living, dynamic, alert, alive. How can it be an end?”

J. Krishnamurti, First Talk in Rajahmundry 1949

WE all want to be Happy, Healthy, and live at Peace as well as discover some truth about who we are and our existence. From that has developed numerous religions, political schemes, gurus, self-help organizations, philosophies, and numerous creeds as well as what many are called “absolute truths.” From that are birthed endless politicians, gurus, teachers, and businesses that claim they all have the secret formula for your Happiness, Health, and Peace normally at a price. Yet, their whole created lifestyle depends upon our existence and funneling of funds into their coffers. For them, IT all depends on our inability to see ourselves as enough and that we were born without the necessary “equipment” to fulfill our destiny in our lives so we turn to others.

In the United States we see this exemplified in the politics of insanity that currently exist. We pay, pay, pay to the coffers of the government all the while hoping that they become our savior. The politicians strive off our fear – our fear of insecurity and that we won’t be Happy, Healthy, and at Peace unless they step in to secure it for us all the while demanding we pay more and more for it. The current slogan is “Make America Great Again” and that unless we make the rest of the world pay their dues, we will live in a state of fear and gloom. . There is not one person or a group of people who will give us the security we so desperately seek for. People today are glued to their televisions, newspapers, and audio reports to see what is the next major news bombshell which is EXACTLY what the political “leeches” want and strive for. They tap into our fears, curious minds, and doomsday mentalities since these are a key component in sustaining their lifestyle at the level they are accustomed to. Isn’t is great that some politicians have been using public funds, your’s and my hard-earned money, to make pay-offs for their infidelties? Or to wage bloodhsed around the world in the name of peace with the tax dollars we have sweated and worked for.

A quick note on other’s – WE will never, ever be able to obtain our security at the expense of another’s insecurity, turning our eyes from those who only seek the same thing we do – Happiness, Health,and Peace.

I have also been reading of a guru that in the past many people followed and sought after until he fell from his perch with scandals and illegal activities. Yet many people gave everything they had materially to his organization while the upper echelon of the group lived rather well. We see this over and over while there is not one religious/spiritual group, guru, politician, or individual that is exempt from such downfalls and maybe need to say from their “humanness”.

What makes us or manipulates us into such odd behavior of turning over our power and literally our souls to others? Is it such a desperate attempt at Happiness, Health, and Peace that we are willing to give ourselves over to anything that promises it to us and will lead us there? And what does these individuals possess or have acquired that we don’t? Who actually leads us to the ever-sought Promise Land?

At age 55, I finally come to the realization that no one else can tell me what I need to do, be, or strive for. I do believe that books can help give us various ideas and “pointers” and at time in our lives we may need counseling over a particular situation or crisis, but in the long run a good counselor or adviser who has no vested interest in your finances will simply point out the obvious that you have within already. What is interesting is each one of these individuals have their own set of “issues” and humanness that they are trying to deal with. I am the only one who has been with “me” my whole existence and knows what lies inside. It is also good to hear of other’s experiences but with the strong idea that we are ultimately the only ones that hold the key to our destiny. The true search for self-awareness and soul-searching does take a lot of hard work and solitude so many see it much easier spending years and vast amounts of finances looking for someone else to do the work for them giving one instant Happiness, Health, and Peace.

Carl Jung spoke of an idea called “Universal Consciousness”, a stream in the Universe where all ideas and thoughts flow and we ALL have access to it. There is no one left out from it’s vast wisdom and experiences while a great benefit from tapping into it cost nothing financially or materially nothingaccess but does require time and effort on one’s part. Even some revered great spiritual leaders talked of our divinity and our innate spiritual possibilities – Buddha talked about the idea that we are all Buddhas, Jesus Christ talked about us all beings gods. I believe the “Great Awakening” will be when humankind as a whole finally realizes our own worthiness and potential within as well as everyone’s dormant potential within. The world then will not need gurus, humongous multi-million dollar buildings that are empty except for Sundays and Wednesday nights, political saviors that promise us limitless Happiness, Health, and Peace.

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”

Gautama Buddha

I myself have spent countless hours, tens of thousand of dollar, and loss of serenity pursuing these numerous individuals and groups as well as believing that there is some politician who can save us all. Yet, I am exhausted myself from it all and have made a decision it is time to spend the time and effort to look within. I have chosen to secure my space in solitude/silence, do the “work”, and spend enormous amounts of time in Nature to find the “voice within”. Possibly in the final anayalsis I will assuredly discover that I am my own guru and only then will I obtain the elusive, true state of Happiness, Health, and Peace. How about you and when do you begin – today?